‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Review: Holly Hunter Thrives in Playful Franchise Expansion
“Star Trek” has an enviable history as a franchise. It has been 50 years since the original series premiered, the only show that Martin Luther King Jr. let his children stay up to watch. Many spinoffs and films later, the contemporary renaissance of the franchise has had highs and lows but, thankfully, continues to push forward and evolve.
“Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,” created by Trekverse newcomer Gaia Violo and overseen by showrunners by Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, is a decisively new approach to the franchise, one that mostly prioritizes a light tone and whimsy over the self-seriousness that sometimes plagued shows like “Discovery,” without being quite as goofy as “Lower Decks” and turning up the heat when it needs to. Over six of 10 episodes provided to critics, it’s easy to embrace this group of young cadets as they train to become officers, with an episodic structure that focuses on one character’s perspective at a time, reminiscent of early seasons of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.”
“Starfleet Academy” takes place in the “Discovery” timeline of the 32nd century, as opposed to the 23rd-24th century where most previous stories take place. Fans of the franchise may have reservations just based on that fact: “Discovery” had to invent an entirely new visual language for the show, from crafting new technology like the ability to teleport around willy-nilly with a tap of the combadge to designing ships that shapeshift mid-flight. There’s also The Burn of it all, the mysterious spontaneous combustion of all warp cores across the galaxy in this timeline, causing widespread death and destruction and nearly leading to the dissolution of the United Federation of Planets.
Luckily, the USS Discovery got to the bottom of it in that series and helped rebuild the Federation, including encouraging Earth to rejoin and end its isolationism. But the galactic repercussions of The Burn are what “Starfleet Academy” continues to grapple with. In a flashback that opens the series, we meet Captain Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) as she delivers a verdict in a case involving Nus Braka (Paul Giamatti), a part-Klingon, part-Tellarite found guilty of felony theft that left a Federation officer dead during a time when resources were sparse. Also involved is Anisha Mir (Tatiana Maslany) and her young son Caleb. The case separates them, with Anisha placed in a rehabilitation camp and Caleb in the Federation’s care.
15 years later, an older Caleb (Sandro Rosta) is on the run with a rap sheet of crimes under his belt and his mother is nowhere to be found. Nahla cites the incident as her reason for retirement, but before she gets a chance to live out her golden years in peace, she’s asked by the Federation to return as Chancellor of Starfleet Academy, which is being recommissioned to San Francisco after many years on pause.
It’s here we meet our main cast of young adult cadets: Caleb, something of a prodigy, is given a chance to rehabilitate his rule-busting past as a cadet in exchange for help from Federation resources to find his mother; Jay-Den Kraag (Karim Diané) is a surprisingly shy Klingon; Sam (Kerrice Brooks) is Kasqian, a new race of photonics (holograms) with bright-eyed, childlike programming; Darem Reymi (George Hawkins), a Khionian perfectionist and jock; and Genesis Lythe (Bella Shepard), Dar-Sha and probably the most competent of the bunch.
The first episode is an absolutely thrilling ride as they depart for Earth in the USS Athena (with a computer voiced by “The OA’s” Brit Marling), only to encounter trouble on the way. Nothing like a trial by fire for these cadets. The special effects in this franchise continue to be top-notch here, and despite a very long 75-minute runtime, the pilot is an absolutely kinetic blast with cinematic scale. Running into red alert-worthy conflict on a ship hits all the right Trek notes and we get to meet our key players right in the action — including First Officer Lura Thok (Gina Yashere), the ball-busting part Klingon, part Jem’Hadar who also works as Starfleet Master at the academy and very likely to assign push-ups to a misbehaving cadet.
Once the Athena lands in San Francisco, the show moves into an episodic structure that focuses on specific cadets and their backgrounds, whether that’s Kraag’s experience in the Klingon diaspora or Sam’s coming-of-age as a photonic cadet. Some of the school shenanigans at Starfleet Academy work better than others: Like a very fun game of laser tag that pits the Starfleet cadets against their rivals at the War College, the more militaristic arm of the academy. It’s hard not to itch for an away mission after a few episodes spent mostly taking lessons at the academy (which does make the 6th episode very satisfying), but investing so much in developing these characters is sure to be what makes the show’s future episodes successful. “Discovery” suffered from having under-written characters; although we may have known the name of the bridge crew on that series, the writers were overly focused on Burnham as a protagonist rather than a crew worth rooting for.
And though “Starfleet Academy” welcomes a new tone and younger stars, it sets a high bar for entry for a new generation of viewers, and isn’t likely to convert over newcomers. Luckily, the show is extremely rewarding for the veteran watchers. The Doctor (Robert Picardo) returning — with caveats that he programmed aging into his subroutines to make mortals around him more comfortable, of course — is a welcome dose of nostalgia for “Voyager” fans. “Deep Space Nine” loyalists will want to tune into an ode to Benjamin Sisko in an endearing fifth episode, and those wanting “Discovery” crumbs can expect to see Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) and Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) return as instructors. There are Easter eggs everywhere for those with eyes to see it, but without hitting you over the head with it like “Picard” did. In that way, more reminiscent of how “Lower Decks” approached reaching back into “Trek” history.
The highlight of “Starfleet Academy” is definitely casting Hunter, though. The Oscar-winning actress really makes Captain Nahla her own, from prancing around shoeless to the innumerably creative ways she sits in chairs throughout the season, and her crackling chemistry with Giamatti in the few scenes they share. Hunter is an absolute delight to watch and works well as the cadets’ mentor, embracing a perfect balance between playfulness and discipline. The downside is her acting repertoire outshines the less-experienced newcomers, who can be stiff in their line deliveries and sometimes seem more focused on modeling their way through a scene than performing. Nothing that more screen experience won’t fix over time.
Overall, “Starfleet Academy” is entertaining and well-paced while bringing together the compelling threads of what makes this universe so appealing to watch. It is a nostalgic treat for Trekkies while also being something completely new, and isn’t afraid of a little silliness along the way, while still managing to retain the core ethos of what makes “Trek” tick. Hopefully a clearer overarching plot is established in the final batch of episodes, but the sixth episode presents more life-threatening stakes that are sure to be a turning point.
The bottom line: This is a new, exciting frontier for “Star Trek” that breaks up the formula and is definitely worth tuning into.
“Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” premieres Thursday, Jan. 15, on Paramount+.
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